


Interrupted

by walkalittleline



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Veth and Yasha and their horrible wisdom scores, please let them have some privacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkalittleline/pseuds/walkalittleline
Summary: Or, five times Caduceus and Fjord (almost) get caught and one time they don’t.
Relationships: Caduceus Clay/Fjord
Comments: 14
Kudos: 286





	Interrupted

CALEB

He wakes up automatically when it’s time for his watch to start, his internal clock going off without fail at precisely one in the morning. Yawning hugely, he reaches out to shake a sleeping Beau by the shoulder, dodging the swipe she throws in his direction as she groans and rolls deeper into her blanket.

“Our watch,” he mutters.

Beau grumbles incoherently into her pillow in response.

“I am going to relieve Fjord and Caduceus,” Caleb says as he stands and tugs on his coat to ward off the chill. “I expect you to join me in five minutes or I’m sending Frumpkin to chew on your ear.”

Beau mumbles again and flashes him a thumbs up before waving him off tiredly. Caleb rolls his eyes and wraps his scarf around his neck before settling a purring Frumpkin on his shoulder. He steps carefully between the other sleeping bodies towards the edge of the little golden dome, stretching his arms over his head as he walks out into the bracingly cold night air. 

It’s not pitch black out thanks to the bright half moon and speckled stars and he picks his way easily through the grass and scrub towards the nearby sprawling tree they’d all agreed had the best vantage point to watch the area. He stops when he’s twenty feet away, frowning as his eyes begin to more fully adjust to the darkness and he looks to the base of the tree when he’s expected to find Caduceus and Fjord sitting, likely chatting or praying or whatever it was they did when they were alone together. He sees Caduceus’ staff leaning against the tree but otherwise there’s no sign of them and he feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up in apprehension as he walks carefully closer, taking the opportunity to bring several dim lights up to float around his knees with a wave of his hand.

Pulling a length of wire from his bag, he holds it to his lips, glancing around nervously as he whispers, “Fjord, where are you? Are you and Caduceus okay? I don’t see you. Please reply to this message.”

The reply takes several seconds to come through, Fjord’s voice weirdly out of breath as he responds, “Oh, um— _shit—_ yes, we’re fine. Is it time to switch already? We’re just—we’re coming, hold on.”

Caleb frowns but doesn’t send another message, continuing less warily towards the tree. He’s just reaching the base tree when the two of them appear around the other side of the trunk, looking oddly flushed and breathless.

“Hey, Caleb,” Caduceus says in his usual deep timbre, smiling faintly.

“Everything alright?” Caleb says, raising an eyebrow at their appearance, his eyes immediately going to the partially open front of Fjord’s shirt and the decidedly tousled look to Caduceus’ hair.

“Yes,” Fjord says confidently, almost too loud. “Totally fine, we were just doing a, ah, a quick patrol of the area.”

“Mm,” Caleb hums as Caduceus nods in agreement. “It must have been a vigorous patrol to get you so warm you had to open your shirt.”

Fjord’s face somehow simultaneously flushes and drains of color.

“Send Beau if she’s not up when you get back,” Caleb says as he sits and settles against the tree trunk. “If you don’t mind.”

“Right,” Fjord mutters. “Well, um, good night, Caleb.”

“Night, Caleb,” Caduceus says as he scoops up his staff, pausing to scratch Frumpkin behind the ears where he’s now curled up in the grass. 

“Good night,” Caleb replies, lifting one hand in a wave as he pulls out his book and continues with his unfinished notes from earlier that day.

Fjord seems to flounder on the spot for a few seconds before he takes off in the direction of the hut, Caduceus trailing half a step behind him looking what Caleb can only describe as smug. He hears the rumble of his voice but can’t make out what he’s saying nor Fjord’s reply. 

He waits until they’re well out of earshot to glance after them. He laughs quietly and shakes his head in disbelief when he sees their hands intertwined, their shoulders brushing together as they walk away and are slowly swallowed by the darkness.

JESTER

“It’s been _ages_ , Beau,” she laments, sprawling out on the bed with her arms and head hanging over the edge.

“It’s been like an hour,” Beau replies. She’s smiling faintly at her impatience, that small, fond smirk that she gets when she’s trying not to. “Caduceus said he’d call you when it’s done.”

“But I want it _now_ ,” Jester whines. She rolls onto her stomach and scowls at the rug.

Beau pauses to look up from the scrawled pages of notes she’s been reading through. “Go check, then,” she says with a shrug. “See how much longer.”

“Alright,” Jester sighs exasperatedly. She pushes herself up and slides off the bed. 

“Bring me some if it’s done,” Beau calls after her as she heads into the hall. “Oh, and some tea!”

Jester makes a sound of acknowledgement in response as she heads towards the stairs, humming absently as she goes.

“Caduceus,” she calls as she’s rounding the corner to the kitchen. “Is the cake almost done? I’m hungry.”

She hears a bowl clatter to the ground followed by a hissed curse in a voice that’s definitely not Caduceus’. Frowning, she pokes her head into the room, surprised to see Fjord standing against the counter on the opposite end of the room with Caduceus, the front of his shirt and pants dusted white with flour, more of it scattered across the floor at their feet.

“Hi, Jester,” Caduceus says cheerfully when he sees her, smiling even as Fjord tries in vain to brush flour off his clothes. Caduceus’ hair is tied back in a bun, some of it falling loose around his face, his apron flecked with flour but not nearly as bad as Fjord’s clothes.

“I didn’t know you were helping, Fjord,” Jester says. She moves to the oven and peers at the promising looking cake inside, delicate and golden and looking very close to finished baking. “Do you like to bake?”

“Yeah, sure, it’s great,” Fjord mutters, sounding faintly annoyed as he continues trying to shake flour from his clothes.

“Here,” Caduceus says, taking pity on him and beginning to make sweeping strokes down the front of Fjord’s shirt with one broad hand.

“Caduceus never lets _me_ in the kitchen,” Jester says, torn between petulant and incredulous.

“Yes, but Fjord doesn’t try and eat half the ingredients before I can use them,” Caduceus says with a chuckle.

Jester wrinkles her nose up petulantly but doesn’t argue. She turns away from the oven, about to ask how long until the cake is done and falling silent. She watches as Caduceus continues cleaning flour from Fjord’s clothes, Fjord watching him with a small, soft smile she thinks she would have killed to have directed at her months ago. Now, however, it gives her pause, and she stares in stunned disbelief and realization as Caduceus touches his flour-dusted finger to Fjord’s nose with a grin that turns to a quiet laugh when Fjord huffs and wipes his nose clean again.

“Cake,” she blurts out suddenly, feeling guilty and flustered for what she’d just seen, which felt so intimate she feels like she’s intruding just being there.

“Hm?” Caduceus turns to given her a curious look as Fjord continues brushing at his clothes despite the fact that they’re probably as clean as they could be given the circumstances.

“Will it be ready soon?” Jester clarifies.

“Oh!” Caduceus steps around Fjord to move to her side so he can open the oven and prod the top of the cake with one slender finger. 

“I’d say five minutes,” he says as he shuts the oven. “But it’ll need to cool for a few so it doesn’t collapse. I’ll bring you and Beau some when it’s done.”

“And some tea?” Jester says hopefully.

“And some tea,” Caduceus echoes with a chuckle. “Fjord can help me carry it up.”

“Thank you, Caduceus,” she chimes happily, giving him a quick hug around the middle. “And you, too, Fjord,” she adds, peering under Caduceus’ arm at him.

Fjord grunts in reply, turning to begin to pull teacups from the cupboard as Caduceus goes to help him, standing close enough to let their elbows brush. Jester suppresses a giggle at the distinctly hand-shaped flour prints now visible on Fjord’s lower back before she skips lightly back out of the room again.

BEAU

At first she was sure Jester was pulling her leg when she’d told her. _Fjord and Caduceus_? The thought of Caduceus being interested in that sort of thing was enough alone to make her doubt Jester’s insistence in what she’d seen when she’d “almost walked in on them canoodling”. 

But then she remembers Caduceus’ disinterest in flirting with women and his complimenting of Wursh’s abs and thinks maybe he’s just more subtle with his expression of attraction than she is. Fjord, though? She supposed they _had_ been spending a lot of time together. She’d just figured it was god shit or whatever they usually did, not sneaking around to make out. Unless maybe it was both. She’s sure that’s _someone’s_ thing.

She assuages Jester by telling her she’ll keep an eye out and an ear open for any strange behavior with the two of them, though she ends up so preoccupied trying to decipher a stack of notes in some complicated and unfamiliar code with Caleb that the thought completely leaves her mind. 

It’s been nearly a week since the conversation with Jester when she makes her way to Fjord’s room early one morning to go through the usual routine of dragging him out of bed to work out. She yawns, scratching the shaven side of her scalp absently as she raps on the door with her other hand.

“Fjord,” she calls out sternly, “workout.”

She frowns when, rather than the usual silence or grumbled curses she receives in response, she hears a sudden flurry of whispers of what is definitely more than one person on the other side of the door. She turns the knob and pushes it open, feeling her jaw drop at the sight of Fjord sitting up in bed, his hair rumpled, with Caduceus sitting cross-legged at the other edge of the mattress, a teacup in his hands and his expression unreadable.

“Beau,” Fjord says in a voice full of forced cheerfulness. “Is it that time already?”

“Wha—oh, yeah, man, burning daylight,” Beau says, eyes fixed on Caduceus, who merely sips his tea serenely. She turns back to Fjord. “You’re up early. I usually have to pull you out of bed by your hair.”

“Caduceus brought me morning tea,” Fjord replies, eyes dodging meeting hers shiftily. 

“Uh huh,” Beau says. She can’t help but notice the suspicious lack of any steam rising from Caduceus’ cup. Or a cup for Fjord.

“Well, we should get going,” Fjord says and claps his hands together.

“Sure,” Beau says slowly. She doesn’t leave the doorway as Fjord tugs on his boots and pulls his tunic over his undershirt, eyes instead fixed on Caduceus, who smiles back at her. If she didn’t know better she’d call it a smirk.

“Alright, ready,” Fjord says when he finishes lacing up his boots. He glances between Beau and Caduceus and Beau can see the hesitation on his face. “Well… thank you for the, um, the tea, Caduceus.”

Caduceus tips his cup, which Beau is now fully convinced is empty, at him with a smile.

“I’ll make you a fresh one when you get back,” he says. “Maybe we can commune together, too.”

Beau stares in disbelief at how heavy with suggestion his words are. He raises his cup to his lips again, watching Fjord, who has flushed dark, over the rim.

“Of course,” Fjord stammers. Beau has the fight the urge to roll her eyes or maybe puke at how obvious they’re being.

“Can we go?” she says loudly.

Fjord starts.

“Right, yes, well, see you soon, Caduceus,” he says, turning on his heel and striding passed Beau into the hall. Caduceus’ eyes are fixed appreciatively on his ass. Beau gives him an incredulous look to which he responds with a wide, innocent smile, before following Fjord from the room.

VETH

Since she’d been returned to her body, Veth has found she has developed a much deeper appreciation for taking a nice long bath. The anxious, nauseous feeling she’d gotten for so long every time she was around water has been improving gradually, and she realized she wasn’t nearly as averse to stripping down entirely when she didn’t have to be so blatantly confronted with a body that felt entirely foreign to her.

Now that they’ve been able to spend some time in their home in Xhorhas, she’s taken to enjoying soaks in the makeshift hot tub Caduceus and Jester had built together, letting the heat seep into her muscles and lull her into a near doze until her fingers and toes are thoroughly wrinkled.

Towel wrapped around her and hair in a high braided knot on her head, she pads down the hallway towards the bottom of the tower turned garden/spa, pleased to see steam already wafting out through the doorway indicating someone else must have already asked Caleb to light the fire underneath. She hopes whoever it was has already left, she’s found she prefers the solitude of a bath alone these days.

The steam clouds around her as she enters the room, so thick it’s as if someone has filled the space with fog, the heat of it making her sweat almost immediately. She can see the shape of someone seated in the tub facing away from her, the green skin unmistakable as she gets closer.

“Are you trying to cook yourself in there?” she teases as she approaches, chortling.

Fjord whips around at the sound of her voice, his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Veth!” he practically shouts. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking a bath,” Veth replies sardonically, discarding her towel and moving to dip her toe in the water opposite Fjord. “Fuck, that’s hot.”

She lowers herself gingerly into the tub, hissing at the almost-too-hot temperature of the water. The surface is barely visible through the steam, Fjord himself a hazy outline on the far side of the stone basin. He looks weirdly nervous, his jaw set and his arms resting stiffly on the rim of the tub, hands balled into fists.

“What’s wrong with you?” Veth says suspiciously. She snickers. “You weren’t jerking it, were you? Fjord, this is a communal tub, you know.”

Fjord laughs stiffly, the sound turning into a yelp as he jumps and one hand jerks towards the water before he returns it back to the lip of the tub.

“Just hot, is all,” he says with another nervous laugh, a slight shake to his voice. “Will have to make sure Caleb doesn’t build the f— _ah_ —ire so big next time.” His eyes widen and he suddenly bites his bottom lip hard, his chin dropping to his chest as he shudders, whimpering quietly.

Veth narrows her eyes at him, leaning forward slightly.

“Are you sick?” she says warily. “Because if you puke in here, I’ll— _FUCK_!”

She leaps back, nearly toppling sideways as the surface of the water breaks between them and a sopping wet head of pink hair bursts from it. Caduceus shakes his head, blinking as he drags the back of his hand over his mouth.

“Oh, hi, Veth,” he says casually, as if he hasn’t just scared her half to death. 

Veth clutches at her still thumping heart, staring at him in disbelief.

“What are—were you down there this whole time?!” she shrieks.

“Well, yeah,” Caduceus replies, now wringing his hair out like a wet towel.

“ _Why?_!”

Caduceus glances at Fjord, who merely blinks glassily back at him, looking dazed.

“Seeing how long I could hold my breath,” Caduceus replies as he looks back at her, smiling disarmingly.

Veth glowers at him.

“Giving me a heart attack,” she grumbles darkly, settling back into her spot and folding her arms over her chest. “I _wanted_ a quiet, calm bath.”

“I think I’m done,” Caduceus says cheerfully. He pulls himself out of the tub, all long, knobbly limbs and wet, fuzzy skin.

“Take him with you,” Veth demands, pointing at Fjord, who still looks like he may be on the verge of passing out. “I think he’s sick.”

Caduceus peers down at Fjord, smiling.

“Good idea,” he says, reaching down to help Fjord climb out of the tub. Fjord’s legs wobble under him and Caduceus slips an arm around his middle. “I’ll take him to his room and make sure he feels better.”

“Good,” Veth says sternly. She scowls at them both as Caduceus tucks a towel first around Fjord’s then his own waist before leading him from the room, still smiling faintly. Veth huffs when they’re gone, settling back and letting her eyes fall shut so she can finally enjoy her bath in peace.

YASHA

At the first roll of thunder she hauls herself out of bed and begins the trek towards the tower. She’s taken to sleeping there some nights, especially when it storms, enjoying the sound of the rain on the leaves and the non-judgmental company that Caduceus offers. He will acknowledge her with a nod and a smile, offer her a cup of tea which she’ll sometimes accept, but never try and force conversation on her. 

There are evenings when they will talk, chat about what flowers he grew back at the Grove she never got a chance to see or his family. Once she had brought up her book of pressed flowers and they’d sat together drinking tea while Caduceus identified as many of them as he could for her. Once or twice she’d gotten there to find Fjord with his own blankets strewn across the ground, he and Caduceus drinking tea or meditating together. It was nice, sitting with them in comfortable silence, no expectation for her to contribute to their conversation.

When she pushes up the trapdoor leading to the garden, she can already hear the gentle patter of rain on the canopy of the tree, the low rumble of distant thunder across the city. It’s dark, the only light the scattered glow of dim gold through the tree branches as she climbs through the trapdoor and shuts it gently behind her. 

She glances towards the tree, moving instead towards the makeshift shelter set up on the far side of the space when she doesn’t see Caduceus seated against the trunk. There’s a makeshift curtain slung across the little alcove where his bed—if she can call the thin straw pad on the stone floor a bed—is, behind which she can see the faint shadow of movement. There’s something odd about the shape behind the curtain, though, distorted and too large to be Caduceus, as rail thin as he is. She frowns as she approaches.

“Caduceus?” she calls tentatively.

“Come on, _really_?” 

“Shh.”

She hears the first voice, low and exasperated, followed by the soft hush and warm chuckle that she recognizes as Caduceus before the curtain is pulled back and Caduceus’ face appears around it.

“Yasha,” he says, smiling kindly. He glances up at the sky barely visible through the tree canopy. The first drops of rain have just begun to patter onto the leaves. “I thought I felt a twinge in my knee earlier.”

“Are you… busy?” she says, still confused and craning her neck to try and peer around the still closed curtain.

“Hmm? Oh, well… no, we were just…” he trails off, glancing at whoever it is still behind the curtain. He pushes back the fabric and Yasha is only mildly surprised to see Fjord sitting back against the pillow, arms folded across this chest and brow furrowed in a scowl.

“Oh,” she says, suddenly understanding. “I didn’t realize you were praying.”

Fjord snorts quietly and Caduceus gives him a gently reprimanding look.

“Would you like me to leave?” Yasha says, feeling guilty and a little bit like she’s missing something.

“Yes.”

“No.”

Caduceus gives Fjord another scolding look, which Fjord responds to with a look of incredulity.

“Just one moment, Yasha,” Caduceus says, giving her a warm smile before tugging the curtain shut again.

She hears them whispering behind the fabric but can’t make out exactly what they’re saying, only catching little snippets like “every _time_ , Caduceus,” and “not her fault,” and “make it up to you” before Caduceus pulls the curtain back again and gives her another bright smile.

“Tea?” he offers, already pulling himself to his feet. Fjord stays seated, still looking frustrated and annoyed, though when Caduceus offers him a cup of tea a few minutes later, his anger seems to fade and he accepts it with a muttered thanks, his hand covering Caduceus’ briefly before he takes the steaming cup from him.

Yasha is relieved when he sits with them in the cool grass to drink in a much less strained silence broken only by the quiet rush of rain and occasional distant rumble of thunder overhead.

+1

“I’m locking this door and I’m not unlocking it until I’m ready, I don’t care if someone is on _fire._ ”

Caduceus laughs fondly, watching Fjord twist the key with a loud _click_ before turning back to him with a mix of irritation and determination.

“I’m not getting interrupted again,” he says firmly, climbing onto the bed and moving to settle himself straddling Caduceus’ thighs.

Caduceus’ hands automatically come to rest on his legs, sliding up his thighs to his hips. He smiles when Fjord tucks his hair behind his ear and slides his fingers over his jaw, leaning their foreheads together.

“You’re mine tonight,” he murmurs. “No distractions.”

“We could just tell them,” Caduceus says, eyes falling shut contentedly when Fjord nuzzles his jaw and kisses his neck softly, his lips moving down to his collarbone as he tugs the collar of his shirt aside. “I think some of them _might_ have figured it out already anyway.”

“You think?” Fjord mumbles distantly, his tusks digging bluntly into Caduceus’ shoulder in a playful bite that makes him shiver.

“Mm,” Caduceus hums, tilting his head up towards Fjord as he rubs his thumb over his bottom lip, looking back at him with a soft, simmering hunger. “It is kind of fun, though. Sneaking around. Sort of feels like we were doing something we shouldn’t be.”

Fjord grins, kissing him slow and deep before pulling back again. “We can still be _very_ naughty, if that’s what you want.”

Caduceus laughs quietly. 

“If we tell them then we don’t have to worry about actually getting a chance to get to that point,” Fjord continues. “Hot tub incidents aside. I still can’t _believe_ you did that.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” Caduceus retorts, letting his hand move from Fjord’s hip to rest over the shape of him through his trousers, rubbing gently.

Fjord groans and pushes into the touch.

“God, I love you,” he breathes, kissing Caduceus again, more heated this time as Caduceus feels him harden under his fingers.

“C’mon,” Caduceus murmurs, pushing open the front of Fjord’s shirt. “We should hurry. Just in case.”

“I don’t care what happens out there, I’m not leaving this room until I’m done with you.” He allows Caduceus to pull his shirt over his head before kissing him again, Caduceus running his hands greedily over his chest and biceps. 

Part of him loves the thrill of the possibility of being caught, but even he’s starting to get aggravated at what feels like constant interruptions. He says a silent prayer to the Wildmother for them to have just one evening of peace together without someone coming to look for either of them. He’s not sure if it’s that or just luck, but no one ever does.


End file.
